A Thousand Years
by Max7
Summary: She had warned me it would be this way, getting caught up in revenge. I didn't care, though, because it was my right. If anyone deserved the chance to avenge her, it was me, and I wasn't going to miss that chance. major lemons. don't like, don't read
1. 00: Revenge isn't sweet it's my right

_Here's some of my newer stuff, something I've been inspired to write in the past couple of days. I hope you like it. Please review, okay? It shows me you want to read more._

**01. System: Korn**

I had never felt so disgusting in my entire life, and I had been pretty nasty in some pretty messed up situations. As I stared at the man chained to the chair in front of me, my only thought was blood. That was the only thing I wanted was his blood, as much of it as I could get.

No, I was no vampire, and the thought of tasting his blood made me shudder. Trust me. I would drink a bottle of bleach first.

He tried to destroy something so perfect, tried to taint innocence in ways you just don't go. He already took one from me, and I wasn't gonna let him make it three. While he sat there, head full of graying brown hair hanging low, I waited impatiently for him to regain consciousness before I began. If he couldn't feel it, I couldn't get the pure satisfaction of making his suffering extensive.

You're probably thinking, "Well, that doesn't make you any better," right?

Wrong.

I _am _better, and that's not arrogance talking. That's the facts. Never in my life will I sink down to the levels this man went to, and never in my life will I do all the things he did.

The clock ticking in the other room was the only sound made until I began sharpening the blade in my hand slowly, eyes tight and focused on the man. With each stroke to sharpen, my heart began beating faster.

There were things I needed to know before I killed him, and I had to make sure to get the information before I killed him. Death wouldn't come soon, but I had to remember to get what I needed to know first.

With each tick, there was a stroke to sharpen. It seemed to echo throughout the tiny room, adding an eerie effect to the scene—as if a bleeding unconscious man in the middle of nowhere isn't eerie enough.

Tick, slice. Tick, slice.

Time to die.


	2. 01: This isn't how things are supposed

01. This isn't how things are supposed to go after we saved the world.

_After I post this chapter, I'm not going to post more without some reviews. So, if you want more, review. :) oh. warning. There are rape scenes below. It's nothing _too _brutal . . . at least not as bad as some stuff I've read. Either way, if you don't like lemons, skip down to Fang's POV. That's all Max's POV is, basically._

01. The Theft: Atreyu

***Max***

I had never felt so pathetic in my entire life. It was humiliating, especially for me. I was supposed to be invincible, yet here I was chained down in the most uncomfortable position, half naked and bleeding.

Not to mention crying. Did I mention that? Well, forget I did, because I was _not _crying.

It was dark, too dark for me to see anything. I was cold, and if I wasn't currently sedated, it probably would've made me stiff.

But right now, I was being held down until the drugs kicked in. He was deciding what he wanted to do with me—kill me or use me as bait.

Either way, I knew things were about to get disturbing. I knew what was coming, and I was thankful someone had been there to hear my last request, even if I didn't know her all that well. What I did know was that she was, in her own right, a pretty awesome girl. Spunky, young, beautiful.

She reminded me so much of Nudge, but there wasn't the constant annoying rants that made you want to slap her.

I stopped thinking about the girl in the other room when the massive steel door opened to reveal a dark, shadowy figure. This room was tiny and scarcely lit with a single overhead light that was flickering from time to time.

It was damp, cold, and smelled like dead bodies. If my guess was right, many people had been executed here for no reason at all. Pure pleasure, I would guess, because Itex was done for. We had destroyed that, with the help of all the other mutants they had made that weren't already dead, so it wasn't Itex.

It was just _him_.

He had a bulky box in his hand. I didn't know what it was, but I really didn't care to know. I wanted to scream, but he had me gagged.

The drugs began weakening my body, and I felt dizzy. I was so messed up I couldn't even look up at him as he began pulling out the objects in his box.

When his pants fell down by his ankles, I threw up where I laid. There was no more doubting, and I knew what he had decided.

My death was the bait, not me.

"I told you not to get yourself involved with that stupid emo boy," he sneered as he began ripping the rest of my clothes off. "He would do nothing but cause you problems, and I was right. You should've listened."

Fang . . . my ex, my right-hand man—my right wing, really. Nothing had changed. I loved him, but it was changing from romantic love to family love, like it should've been all along. Sometimes, we're meant to fall in love with someone, but we're not meant to be with them.

That's how it was for Fang and me. We just weren't supposed to be. I wasn't sure who I was supposed to be with, and now, I don't think I'll ever know.

I was trying to fight him, but when he sliced a knife across my forearm, fighting grew harder and harder.

The pain I felt when he forced himself into me wasn't pleasurable, like sex was supposed to be. It was sickening, to the point I began vomiting again. As he thrusted, I began crying.

Me, the invincible Maximum Ride, was crying . . . was letting this happen to her.

There was nothing else I could do, though. When I struggled against his restraints and struggled to keep his small member out of me, I was only cut again. I was bleeding all over the place from being cut and from losing my virginity.

It wasn't supposed to be to him.

The pain I felt inside of me was the worst thing I had ever experienced. Losing your virginity is supposed to hurt, but this was absolutely excruciating. I didn't want him inside of me, but he forced his way in, and it hurt.

From the way he got off in about five seconds, I figured it must've been good for him.

That just made me sick again and again.

I felt something blunt and metal, a bat maybe, smash into the side of my face, snapping my nose and jaw with the force of the impact. A few teeth were probably knocked out too, but I couldn't think straight to say for certain.

Especially when he started pumping in and out of me again. It was quick, just like last time, but unlike last time, when he was finished, he shoved a knife inside of me in the place of his member.

I shrieked in pure agony as he swirled it around and pulled it out. If the blood was minimal before, it certainly wasn't now.

Using another knife, he began making incisions all over my body while I begged him to just kill me already.

But he wouldn't. Instead, he started breaking the bones in my fingers and toes, then my legs, and then my arms. After that, he began busting ribs one by one. Slowly, while I bled out, he made my life worse, more miserable.

And then, for a third time, he began raping me. This time was worse, much worse, and I felt my body growing limp. My world was dimming, and I could feel my heart slowly fading away. With each thrust, it seemed like it was a jolt of poison, and my heart was quick to respond.

"Don't die yet, Maximum," he jeered. "I haven't even gotten started yet. Surely you're stronger than this."

"Only . . . when . . . I . . . want to . . . be."

***Fang***

I took a deep breath as I walked out of the brand new building, trying my best not to be intimidated by its size and magnitude.

Why did they need a school like this? It seemed a little ridiculous to me. If a school isn't broken, don't fix it. Use the money for something more productive.

It's not my call, though, even if I am their new twelfth grade history teacher. Weird, I know, because the youngest students were only three years younger than me, but it was the subject that interested me more than anything else.

As I climbed onto the new murdered black 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R I had, I checked my phone for any new messages before I left.

Instead, I had twenty-six missed calls. The Flock all knew where I was, so I wasn't sure why they called me.

Unless it was urgent.

Iggy was the first person I decided to call back, and he answered almost immediately.

"Max!" he panted out desperately. "He got her!"

I knew what that meant instantly, because we knew _someone _was after her. Details weren't important just yet, except for one. "Where did he take her?"

"Somewhere up in the mountains!" he cried out. "I'm sorry, Fang! You were right! We tried to stop him, but he gassed us and knocked us out—even Max! We're still looking, but you need to hurry!"

"Leaving now," and I didn't even say bye before hanging my phone up and throwing it in my backpack. Then, I pulled my helmet on and took off, passing by the man who just hired me much faster than I should've been going.

He didn't seem fazed, thankfully—not that I cared right now anyways.

I had to save my best friend.


	3. 02: I just broke down on a mountain

_Okay. Stupid computer. Ugh. I had a long note up here explaining all of this, and it deleted all of it by having a "sever overload" or something._

_Anyways, I still request reviews for more, because this chapter could make or break whether you keep reading, and you'll see why. If not this chapter, the next. You might be angry, and if you are, sorry. It's just the idea I had. It's a painful thing for me to write too, but it made a good storyline, and I hope you agree. Even if you hate certain pairings._

_So, at the end of this chapter, I'll have another note to help finish explaining so I don't give anything away right now. I will say this. You _**_WILL_**_ be confused by the end of this chapter. It's supposed to be a little confusing. I promise it gets explained._

_So, as I said, please read and review if you would like more. And CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is encouraged. If you just don't like something that happened, I don't mind you telling me, but don't be a jerk about it. I'll just ignore your review all together if that's the case._

**02. Remembering Sunday: All Time Low**

I didn't wait for the rest of the Flock to get home. There was no time. Instead, I ripped the black tie around my neck off along with the white dress shirt. The buttons flew off and went in all directions, but the dumb shirt was the least of my worries.

I hopped on my blacked out Kawasaki four-wheeler and threw my black motorcycle helmet across the garage as I was backing out as quickly as possible.

As I began speeding up the mountain, I passed by a breathless Flock. They all stopped to look, but I didn't hesitate a single bit.

I had a guess as to where she might be, because Iggy had said I was right. He had taken me there years ago, trying to convince me through brutal methods to go away and leave the Flock, threatening me by saying he would reveal my deepest secret. There were all kinds of torture instruments and tools. If you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't find it no matter how hard you looked.

As I approached the cave where the building was hidden deep inside, a truck sped off. Snow and dirt went everywhere, but instead of chasing it, I slung my four-wheeler sideways, a few feet in front of the narrow entrance. Part of me wanted to chase after him, but I had to try and save Max. Chasing him wouldn't save her, because the sick man in the truck was alone.

I left the motor running in case she needed a quick escape to save her life. Crawling inside and running to the building was probably the fastest thing I had ever done. The door was locked, but out of anger and agony, I was able to bust it down. When I got in the first room, the holding room, I saw a . . . very familiar girl chained to the wall bawling and frantically trying to break herself free.

"She's in there," she managed to get out as I continued staring in wonder. "Her corpse anyways, along with a bomb that's gonna blow in about, oh, fifteen seconds?"

The adrenaline inside of me is what kept me going. I didn't want to breathe, but I was able to get in the room, grab Max's corpse, and see there was actually about twenty-three seconds. I got a glimpse of the gory mess and wanted to vomit. There was enough time that I had time to rip the chains off that were holding in the girl who I remembered to be someone very special that I knew from . . . almost a century ago . . . in here and help her outside.

She seemed to know more about what was going on than I did, so when she motioned for me to get farther from the building and outside the cave, I did just that, pulling Max's body out gently behind me.

The Flock didn't need two gone tonight, and I had just found someone I had spent _years _looking for.

As the building burned, along with all the adrenaline inside of me, I felt my knees growing weak. My entire world was crashing down on top of me, suffocating me. It was as if my lungs collapsed inside of me and my heart shattered.

Everything just exploded along with that building, and I was so messed up inside. On one hand, I felt deep agony because of the loss of my best friend, and on the other, I had just found Abigail—the girl I spent the first fifty decades of my life searching and waiting for.

She was alive and here. Max wasn't.

Staring down at the broken corpse, my mind started flickering with images of the room, and I began imagining what all he did to get her this way. It made me scream in frustration through my teeth. All I could do was shake.

Abigail seemed to understand, and she was tearing up. Something compelled me to hug her, and the two of us began _crying_ together.

I don't cry . . . _ever_. When I say it's never happened in my entire life, even when I thought I knew Max died in the explosion of the last Itex two years ago, I didn't cry. Of course, I was shaky and messed up, but I never shed a tear and faced the Flock with my head held high. That was worse, because I thought it was my fault.

She was the first to step out of my embrace and take the first step towards where Max laid all bloody and cut up, like just another slab of meat. "Who are you?"

I could see in her eyes the same realization that I had had, but she had to verify, just like I did. "I-I could ask you the s-same thing."

Despite the setting, she seemed to smirk a little—only faintly. "You could, but I asked first."

"Fang, Max's best friend," I answered briefly, feeling no need to further elaborate. "You?"

"Trevor," she replied softly, and even though neither name was the same, we seemed to just _know_. Maybe from the voices, or maybe from our hearts. I wasn't sure which it was for me, but I knew, and she apparently did too. "We didn't know each other long, but she asked me to protect you guys, and I promised."

Protection . . . Max was the one who needed protection, not us.

The blood splattered ugly yellows walls of the cold, damp room flashed in my mind, and I began getting a massive headache. It was probably just a show he put on for me, but it was working.

Instead of focusing on the blown up scene, I moved my attention over to Max's naked corpse. It was bleeding and skinned in multiple places, and he even cut her breasts off.

Trevor was sheepish as she tapped my shoulder lightly. "She wrote this for you, and some others. They're all folded together."

"We should wrap her up and get out of here," I suggested quietly. "Others shouldn't see this, and they're behind me. It won't be long before they find the explosion."

She nodded. "I can do that for you, if you want. Do you want me to dig the hole, or will you?"

"Me," I stated. "But not here. We're going to wrap her up, with anything we can find that _doesn't _belong to him, bring her down the mountain, and have a proper funeral for her."

She gave me a timid smile. "I planned to. Can I have your undershirt? Black will help hide the blood. I, uh, have to take my pants off too."

I nodded and removed my undershirt. She tried really hard not to stare, but she couldn't seem to help herself. It was the same way when she took off her pants, and I felt _awful_. Max was _dead_, and I was getting horny looking at my love's small muscular legs and the middle in-between, where I wanted to put—

"I, uh, think she could use my sweatshirt too," she murmured and removed it also, leaving her in a t-shirt and underwear. "And the t-shirt, but I have a camisole underneath."

I nodded bluntly and began clearing off the back of the four-wheeler so there would be a spot to put her corpse. When I looked back, she was on her knees facing away from me, dressing Max's body diligently.

The urge to look at her rather large butt was fought off as I remembered the note Max wrote for me. "When did she get to write these?"

"She finished the last one not even two minutes before he got back and took her into the room," she answered in a whisper, voice full of pain and horror. "When he first brought her in, he put her by me, and he left for a while. Don't know why." She paused for a second before turning to look at me, which I reacted to by looking away from the dirty paper and up at her, into her . . . nuclear blue, piercing eyes. "How did you find the place anyways?"

I took a deep breath before opening the paper with my name scribbled on the front, in Max's usual chicken scratch. "Never told anyone before, but he took me here when I was pretending to be eleven, Max was. Trying to get me to run away, threatening to tell them my secret."

"And you didn't?" she asked curiously, probably wondering why.

I shook my head. "Couldn't. Had nowhere to go anymore."

"Ah," she murmured, understanding everything I said more than anyone else would. "So, you're like Max then? The wings, that is."

"Different wings, but wings, yes," I answered.

She grew quiet then, and I was a little disappointed. Over the years, I had stopped talking like I had when I was . . . well, living in my time, but talking to her was as easy, maybe even easier, as it had been a century ago. Talking to Max had been almost as easy, but some things, I just couldn't talk about with anyone but Ab—Trevor.

But her silence gave me time to read my note. It made me shaky again, and my breathing was rugged, because what did this note say? Did she regret mutually ending what we had, the thing I now felt _extremely _guilty for?

_Fang . . . this can't be too long, and I hate doing this. You know how I am . . . you need to know, though, that I'll always love you, and I'm watching you. Somewhere along the way I realized that living like there's a God is better than living like there's not and finding out otherwise. You told me that, though, so thanks for that. Hopefully I'm in heaven right now smiling down on you. At any rate, I do love you, but not like I used to. Do me a favor, okay? Trust Trevor. Bring her into the family. Love her more than you love chinchillas akardly **(A/N: Awkward without the "w's," a symbolic word pronounced ahkerd)** eating chocolate chip cookies with Mountain Dew on the side. Be good or I'll haunt you, and she'll know._

I shook my head in disbelief and let out a humorous laugh. "Really, Max? _That's _what you want to tell me?"

Trevor shivered as she stood from the completely wrapped up corpse. To be honest with you, I wasn't entirely sure how she did it, but she did, and she was standing there in nothing but a dirty, dried blood stained tank top with her large, protruding chest practically hanging out.

When my hand clenched on the note, I remembered the corpse of my best friend, the girl I had been around the longest in my life. That was enough to stop all desires cold where they began, and I was able to stare right at her without wanting anything but to break down again.

She saw that too, despite my failed attempts to hide it. "We should get going."

I nodded solemnly and began grabbing the corpse tenderly, just like I would have if she was still breathing—bridal style. She would've been protesting and kicking around, but she couldn't now.

When I got her on, Trevor climbed on the back and held her down, preparing to leave in that instant.

I wasn't ready to go yet, though, and I _knew _I had to do this sometime. If I didn't get it over with now, I wouldn't get it over with, and I would crumble around the Flock.

Why not crumble around a girl I hadn't seen in _literally _ninety-seven years? Sounds good to me.

As much as I wanted to be, I wasn't invincible. This _sucked_, more than any words I could come up with could describe. Trevor knew I needed someone to hug again, because she could see my legs shaking and my knees buckling. So, when I began falling, she was there to catch me and hug me.

"I didn't know Max long, but I knew her long enough to know she didn't deserve this," she whispered as my grip tightened on her. "I'm sorry, N—Fang. I'm here to help if you need it."

Instead of using words, I just nodded into her shoulder and let the tears fall freely. This wouldn't be the last time I broke down like this, but if Trevor stuck around, like Max told me to allow, I could get her out of the house and break down some more.

Even still, it was enough to release some of the agony so I would be able to hold my head up again. This way I could hold strong and be the one they all go to, even Iggy.

"I'm good now," I murmured, blinking a few times as I took a deep breath and stepped away from her. "We should head on back."

Right as the two of us mounted the four-wheeler, Gazzy showed up on the back of his four-wheeler.

The moment he looked at the long covered object on the back of the four-wheeler, he knew, and he began slowly breaking down. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Gazzy, back of the four-wheeler," I said quickly. "Come hold her—"

"I'm not touching that!" he shouted, cutting me off. "Who the hell is this? Really, Fang? She's not even dead five minutes and you're already looking for someone else? Fuck you! Fuck both of you! I'm—Max!"

Trevor didn't look surprised at this kind of reaction, especially when Gazzy shut his four-wheeler off and leaned over the handle bars to begin sobbing and screaming a little. The most surprising thing Trevor had done yet was when she climbed down off of the four-wheeler to walk over to him, trying to hide her half-naked self.

Her very sexy half—_no, Fang, stop it!_

"I know what it's like," she murmured.

Gazzy's head tilted up towards her, and on his face was the most lethal and venomous look I've ever seen from, well, anyone—especially Gazzy. "You don't know what _anything _I go through is like. Stop trying to make things better, because that just makes me want to punch you!"

"I lost my entire colony," she whispered, letting her black bat wings slide out ever so slowly. "To an explosion, caused by my own father."

That shut Gazzy up quickly, and suddenly, that hatred turned to sympathy. He was able to go from hating her to loving her enough that he genuinely felt remorse for her. It must've been something about her, because I was way too quick to trust and love her too.

I didn't really mind, though. It would be nice to have someone new in our lives, especially with someone else so valuable and important now gone.

"I promise, Gazzy," she whispered, now placing a hand on his shoulder as she looked into his eyes. "We _will _avenge Max, and I'll do whatever it takes to help you."

It was a promise she made, but I had no idea she really meant it . . . .

_Now, further explanation. I can do one of two things to help explain how Trevor and Fang met._

_1) I can continue working on a prequel to this series, set 100 years prior to this part of the story. It gives you details that explains their past together, and you learn how they got where they are now, in this current story._

_2) I can make one single chapter that doesn't really give you the full story, but it gives you enough information to know what's going on and everything. It briefly explains their past together, and you briefly learn how they got where they are now, in this current story._

_Review and tell me what you think. Prequel or chapter?_


	4. 03: This is what I've been waiting for

_Okay. Well, the decision for a chapter and a prequel is split. So, what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna write both. The prequel will be it's own story, and if you wanna read it, go right ahead. :) I'll just post it as the chapters come. But for the chapter, I'll have the most important things from the prequel. It's mentioned important things here and there, and it'll really get to mentioning them later._

_Btw, if you think this is too fast, I'm sorry, but really, if you think about it, it's not. It'll explain more later, and it'll explain what all they went through when the Flock finds out their secret._

_Who will be the first to discover it? :)_

_Anyways, so I'll be doing both. Thanks for reviewing! It means a lot, honest. I'm gonna post another chapter, so I won't demand reviews after this one. They'd be nice, but the next chapter is where things in their relationship REALLY seem rushed. It's like, "WHOA."_

_But, it's really not rushed. Actually, technically, things have been moving pretty damn slow in thier relationship._

_So, yes. I'll stop rambling now and let you continue reading. If you wanna review, that would be great! But, like I said, I have both chapters, and I'm gonna put the other one up as soon as I finish typing this super long AN. T.T_

_Okay. Done...after I remember to mention this chapter is only a HINT of lemony. Not really anything bad at all. But, if you don't like lemons, I warned you in the summary, so if you don't like them, stop reading. I don't wanna hear about how "disgusting" I am, or anything like that. I told you._

03. Better Off This Way: A Day to Remember

***Trevor***

Fang was still up after everyone else got to bed. Tomorrow, we would move into my place, but tonight, he was sleeping on the couch and giving me his room.

No one even dared to go inside Max's room.

He was just sitting on the couch, staring out the window with his chin propped up on his hands. I could see the fear . . . the stress . . . the worry . . . it was all crashing down on him at once.

The Flock was now his responsibility. He was now in charge of taking care of them and protecting them.

I walked over and sat down by him. "You okay?"

"Fine," he replied quickly, blinking. "Thought everyone was asleep."

"_They _are," I said honestly. "Do you need a hug?"

"I need more than a hug," he groaned softly. "I need love."

My eyebrows rose in surprise. "Well, we . . . do you mean . . . ?"

"No," he muttered. "Love as in someone to spend the rest of my life with. _That's _what I need right now."

"Love doesn't happen overnight," I said gently. "That's what you made the compound for, though, and we connected each other. Surely you knew we would meet up again one day. I mean, we still have to get to know each other all over again, but . . . I'm always a backup option, in case you don't find the prettier girl you probably want."

"No," he disagreed, eyes wide. "Ab—Trevor, you are the most beautiful person in my world. I don't even see beauty, not the kind most people do. I _am _connected to you. I _do _want to love you for the rest of eternity. I just don't know how I want to proceed."

"What do you m—?"

His lips on mine were enough to shut me up. More than enough. It was passionate. It was spontaneous. It was . . . amazing. The most wonderful kisses were the kind that you never expected, that happened just because they could.

Fang's hands began to wander as his tongue rubbed across my bottom lip. I let him in, just like I let his hand wander up the back of my shirt, right between the spot where my wings were. Somewhere in the kiss, I ended up in his lap.

He pulled away slowly, eyes fluttering a little as he looked up at me and smiled sheepishly. "That's what I mean, Trev."

I paused to let the emotions and hormones drain from my mind, only for a few brief moments, but they seemed like forever. I could hear the clock ticking, but between each second, it seemed like five. It was enough time to think about what I was about to do, decide if that was really what was best for the two of us and for the current situation.

And I was kissing him again after just three ticks.

When he kissed me, every care went away, and I was brought to putty in his grip. I couldn't do anything but kiss him back and think this is the thing I've been searching for my entire life. Kissing him was like standing on the edge of the world that was about to explode into nothing but outer space, and even still, the two of us would just be floating around the stars together.

Once again, he was the one to pull away. "We should take this somewhere else. My room?"

"No sex and you've got a deal," I murmured before sliding my arms around his neck and kissing him again.

I could feel his arms sliding down to my butt to hold me up, but he certainly wasn't complaining, especially when I smirked a little and kissed him deeper—tongue and all.

As much as I wanted to punch myself for admitting it, I enjoyed him fondling me like this. His hard, bulging crotch was pressed against my stomach, and I tried to ignore it as our tongues caressed in the cool of the night.

We got to his room as quickly as he could manage without dropping me or stopping the kiss, and once the door was shut, everything just got more intense—more intense than I realized was even humanly possible.

Somewhere along the way to his bed, we both lost our shirts and pants, and we probably would've lost more clothes if we had been moving faster in the clothing removal area. Kissing was our main objective, though. Our lips seemed to melt together, a perfect fit.

My fingers were tracing along the scars all over his chest when his lips parted from mine and began moving down my neck, all the way to my collar bone. I was breathing sharply and taking in every detail of his muscular, well-defined chest, every detail of his lips.

I could only imagine what structural damage he had inside of him, if he had so many _physical _scars, but as he kissed me, it didn't seem to matter.

It really didn't matter, even without the kiss. This boy had so much pain stored up inside, and now, his bottle has reached the limit, and he has to vent to someone, cry with someone. That was me, so I knew what was inside. I knew what kind of damage there was.

Yet here I was, laying in bed with him and holding onto him like there was no other way to survive.

His lips were on mine again. I could feel his hands moving up my back, but I couldn't use thoughts or words to stop him. My thoughts, heart, and desires told me _not _to stop him.

And I wouldn't have if Max hadn't shown up.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at her nails with a coy smile. "You promised, Trevor."

I gasped suddenly and sat up, pulling away from Fang completely. "I-I—"

She giggled. "His kisses are easy to get lost in, I know. You know better than I do, though. Not again, Trev."

"What?" Fang asked quickly. "Besides the fact that we needed to stop there . . . technically before any clothes were removed, but especially there, since I already want to m—I really should stop thinking."

Max's eyebrows rose. "Don't you think _he _should know? It's only fair."

"Maybe," I murmured. "He might just think I'm crazy."

"Who are you talking to?" he demanded gently. "Trevor, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I answered truthfully. "You're gonna think I'm crazy, though. Crazier than someone who talks to herself."

"Try me," he challenged. "I'm sure I've seen crazier."

My lips quirked to the side. "Well . . . one of my abilities is I can sense and talk to the dead. If they died of natural causes, I don't see them. If they were murdered by someone other than me, I see them until I help them seek vengeance and kill their murderer."

His eyes widened slightly, not really in surprise but worry. "Are . . . ?"

I sighed as my shoulders slumped. "I told you."

Max was frowning. "Hmm. Tell him I said he thinks you're callipygous."

"Well, that's odd," I mumbled. "Okay. Max said to tell you that you think I'm callipygous. I have no idea what the hell that means, but . . . yeah."

"Tell her I'm not a hobbledehoy anymore," he challenged.

"She can hear you," I informed him. "You just can't hear her. _I _can."

Max smirked. "Tell him I said I'm not gonna mollycoddle him because he's an oocephalus."

"She said she's not gonna mollycoddle you because you're an oocephalus," I said lightly. "Now, do you believe me?"

"I believed you before," he admitted. "I just wanted to talk to Max and hear you attempt to say those words."

"You can always talk to her," I informed him. "Now you have a new way to hear her."

For some reason, knowing Max was in the room didn't change things for him. When I said that, he _literally _tackled me into the floor and started kissing me again. I could hear Max groaning about how disgusting he was, but I was ignoring her too.

It's easier than you would think to ignore a spirit.

After making out pretty hard and intensely for a good while longer, we both got dressed again. Fang only put on a pair of athletic shorts, but I put on the same white lacy camisole and pink cotton pajama shorts with hearts on them.

I was using Nudge's clothes, okay?

Through dreary, drooping eyes, I saw Fang cautiously standing up from the bed and beginning to head out of the room. It was enough to wake me up.

"You don't have to go," I said quietly. "You can stay here. If we managed to stop before, I think we can do it now that we both want to sleep."

He turned back towards me with dreary eyes. "You sure?"

"Positive," I insisted before patting the bed. "Besides, it's your bed anyways."

Max scoffed. "Wow. I'm not even dead twenty-four hours, and he's already sleeping with a new woman? I have to say, I'm impressed."

I glared over at her, but I wasn't really angry. "Hey, _you're _the new one. I had him first. It's not—"

"I know, I know," she interrupted, before I could say anything else. "I get it. Actually, I'd much prefer it this way. It's healthier for him. Much healthier. Either way, he would've held it all in, but with you, he has someone to let it all out on. He's better off this way."

"Agreed," I nodded as Fang slipped back under the covers. His arms slid around my waist, and I just snuggled into his warm arms.

He understood what was going on. "So, if you see dead people, wouldn't you see them everywhere?"

I shook my head. "It's not like I see every person who dies. They have to be murdered, and even still, I don't see every person ever murdered. If I ever saw the person at some point in my life, even if I just glanced over them, I'll see their ghost until I help them. The kicker there is that they can't tell me who it is that killed them. They're not allowed, so I have to figure it out myself. The scary part of my ability, the thing that makes me want to get rid of it, is those who kill themselves haunt me. Sometimes it's dreams, and other times, it's reflections. They haunt me until I kill someone."

Yeah, I just said kill someone. It's not like I go around killing innocent people. It's usually people who have been escaping justice way too long, but if I can't find any, I kill one of Jeb's henchmen—same difference.

"Have you been able to do this all of your life?" he asked quietly.

I knew what he was _really _asking in one question, a two in one combo—did I hide something so important from him?

"No," I whispered, snuggling deep into his warm embrace. "Only after you left for the war."

We didn't say anything after that, because we were both too tired. Even if we had wanted to talk more on that subject, we wouldn't have, because we were out within thirty seconds.


	5. 04: Everything is so sudden

_Okay. Now reviews are a must for more. :) The next chapter is really awesome, in my opinion. It's a mean cliff hanger, if you ask me. But hey. You'll get it when you review. I would like two reviews, if possible. :D_

**04. I Won't Disagree: Kate Voegele**

A couple days passed, and I moved in with the Flock like planned. Well, technically, they moved in with me. It was a house that no one knew about—not my dad and not Jeb either. It was secure, safe, and _very _safe.

Yes. I said safe twice for a reason. I wanted you to realize it's _safe_ . . . for now.

We all had grieving to overcome, and for some reason, the process brought us together in such a short time. They were already together, but it brought me into it. I felt really bad about the whole situation, because I felt like I should've been first. Instead, he killed Max first.

His own daughter . . . .

At any rate, the two days consisted of tears, random screaming fights, and violence. One point yesterday, Iggy and I had guns pointed at each other. Fang had to separate us. Fang and I have only ever gotten in a fist fight.

That was hard to break up, but Iggy managed.

Now, we're best friends—already. That's what I loved about all of these guys. It didn't matter what I looked like. As far as any of us were concerned, I was just another guy. The Flock brought me in and sort of adopted me.

Everyone was okay with that . . . except Angel, but she would never talk to me to explain why.

Fang and I never really talked about what happened between us the following nights. During the day, we were both there to help anyone who needed it. At night, however, it was all romance and passion—most of the time. Max didn't let us go _too _far, and we were both thankful for that.

He also asked me not to tell the Flock about my ability to see Max just yet, and Max agreed. If I _do _tell the Flock, I don't need to mention how I can see Max. It needed to be someone else that I saw.

Girls would normally get mad at how desperate Fang was to keep our romance a secret, but it made complete sense to me. These kids—and adults—were going through enough. They didn't need to see Fang moving on with life as if he didn't really care, because that's not what happened at all.

Last night, we didn't start out kissing. That part happened later on, because he needed to cry, and we would cry together. It ended the same way, but it started differently, because, as I knew he would, Fang needed someone to fall onto with this. And I was more than happy to catch him.

He was coping with it differently than the others, but that's not how some might see it. So, we weren't gonna risk more fighting.

They just didn't need it right now, and he didn't need any of them to be mad at him.

The normal stages of grief were overcoming all of us at different times. Gazzy was the first one—besides Fang and I—who seemed to be accepting what had happened, although he would never be back to normal again and he was nowhere near being able to move on with life. I wasn't sure what normal was for Gazzy, but Fang told me that would be something he missed.

I began seeing my colony members around the house this morning, so I knew they had found me. Some of them weren't people I missed, but most of them were.

There had been seven of us, including me. Claw was my ex-boyfriend who tried to rape me a couple of nights before he was killed. His older brother, Aaron, tried to help, but _my _older brother, Harrison, stepped in and kicked both of their asses—brother in every sense of the word besides blood, that is. Then there was Harrison's wife, Aubrey. She had a sister named Julie, who was dating the final member, Tucker.

Claw kept making remarks that made me want to hit him, and I'd even take a swing, but it wouldn't do anything. His remarks only happened when Fang and I were alone. Then Max would come along and force him away with the help of Aubrey, Julie, and Tucker.

Now, Max was laying across the back of the couch as she sighed deeply. "What's taking you so long?"

My eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?"

"To woo him," she teased, turning around to face me with a smirk. In her angel form, she was wearing a white corset dress with a poufy tutu skirt. It was her deepest secret, her love for those. Her hair was curled and partially put up, and she had gold glitter around her eyes. It was a perfect accent, and she looked so beautiful with her blonde ringlets. "No, but I mean to fulfill your promise. You have to fall for Fang."

I grimaced. "Max, I already . . . ."

"She's right," Aubrey spoke up, smirking over at me as she plopped down beside her. "You two are like hot and cold. Without each other, there's nothing. Besides, you loved him ninety-seven years ago. He's not so different, is he?"

"That didn't make sense," I muttered under my breath before standing up and frowning at the two. It was hard to look away from Aubrey's emerald eyes, the way they were glowing so brightly. "Okay, so it kinda did . . . sorta? He's a lot like Nicholas Mosley, but Fang's a little different too. Guys, can I please be allowed to do this on my own? What if he doesn't want this right now?"

Max frowned at me. "Really? You're questioning us? We see _everything_ . . . more than we want, but everything, nonetheless. After ninety-seven years, you two were brought back into each other's lives for a reason. He knows that, and now you do too. If you were to walk right up to him and kiss him, he would kiss you back." She frowned. "Well, okay, that's happened quite frequently during the darker hours. You get my point, though."

"He'd probably do a little more, considering what he's thinking about right now," Aubrey added on, making a face of slight disgust. "Look, Trev, if you want us to leave you alone, you know what you have to do."

"I know, I know," I dismissed.

"Who on earth are you talking to?" Fang snorted as he made his way into the room and plopped down beside me, right where Max had slid her way down to, but I knew he knew, and I could see a curious gleam in his eyes. "Are you finally losing it?"

"She must be!" Iggy exclaimed as he entered the room. "She keeps forgetting her place in the kitchen! Move, woman!"

"You know what an adjective to describe guys who make jokes about women's rights and women's place being the kitchen would be?" I asked darkly, eyes narrowing. I had put up with enough crap when I was younger. There was no "women's rights" crap gonna go on now.

He snorted. "Smart?"

"Single," Nudge input for me, but I nodded firmly, my arms folded over my chest. "If it wasn't for the fact that neither of us are gay, I would suggest we get married, Trevor. We think alike sometimes, act alike sometimes, and—"

"The difference being her limit to how much she says," Gazzy interrupted teasingly. "Iggy, really. I'm starving. Can you please make some dinner? I'm sure I'm not the only one."

"Gazzy, we had dinner two hours ago," Fang reminded him. "Just go get something from the kitchen."

Gazzy nodded and quickly dashed into the kitchen. Iggy could hear him getting into something he shouldn't have been, apparently, because he yelled, "No, not that!" and ran into the kitchen after him.

Fang only had to glance up at Nudge for her to understand she was supposed to go after them and make sure they didn't break anything—or each other.

And she did obediently, without a single argument.

If this tragedy has done anything for them, it's brought them closer together, and they listen to authority a little better.

Fang sighed deeply as he looked over at me through those mysterious dark orbs of wonder. "We need to talk later."

"We do?" My eyebrows rose. "About what? Did I forget to turn off your radio when I left your room earlier?"

He shook his head. "No, Trev. Nothing like that. I just need to talk to you. We could go for a flight after everyone goes to bed—except Iggy, of course. And of course, we wouldn't go far."

"Of course not," I agreed.

"Just go now," Iggy disagreed when he made a surprise entrance back into the room for a second. "I've got it covered. If this is about what I'm thinking of, you need to make plans as quickly as possible. I think vengeance will help us all move on."

"Me too!" Max exclaimed happily. "But no, Ig. Sorry. It's not what you're thinking of."

Iggy took a deep breath as he stared at the exact region where Max's spirit was—blindly, of course, but in the same direction and everything. "You know, sometimes it feels like she's still here watching us, talking to us even."

"She is," I said lightly, although he didn't realize I _knew _she was. Fang _did _realize it, and he panicked a little, but I knew what I was doing.

No, I'm not just crazy either. This was real, almost like a sixth sense. I don't know why I was born this way, because this was something God gave me, not those stupid scientists.

He gave me a tiny smile before pointing in the direction he knew the door was. "Now, go you two. Have fun. Don't come back pregnant, Trevor."

I rolled my eyes. "I can't have kids, Ig. Don't worry about that one."

Fang gave me a small grin. "I love how you didn't tell him not to worry about us having sex. Just no babies."

I laughed. "Don't worry, Iggy. We're not gonna have sex. There, Fang? Better?"

The front door closed behind us before he answered. "Not really."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean, sex is something I would want to participate in with you _**many**_ more times," he groaned. "Wow. This isn't starting out like I had hoped."

My eyebrows rose. "If there's a quick punch line, you can just get to it so you won't have to worry about something happening while we're gone."

He grinned down at me and shrugged. "There is, just two words. Marry me?"

My eyes widened. "Whoa, what?"

He pulled out a piece of paper. "I had this whole speech prepared, but you asked for the punch line, so I gave it to you. Come on, Trevor. If I've learned nothing else out of this whole experience, I _have _learned that you never know when life's gonna be over—or, in our case, when life is gonna separate you from everyone you love and care about. Max died alone, and I don't wanna do that. I love you, Trevor. We were gonna get married ninety-seven years ago. Why not now? It's a little overdue, I would say."

I shook my head firmly as tears filled my eyes and I took a step away from him. "Don't say you love me unless you really mean it, because I might do something crazy like believe it."

"I love you," he repeated. "I say that because I _do _mean it, Trev."

Then, in that moment, with tears in my eyes, I did the simplest thing. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. The entire world cracked open, just like it always did when we kissed like this. It was different, though, because my heart was raging and tugging in my chest, my face burning. I was electric and all kinds of disoriented.

Marriage? So soon after meeting up again? It was insanity!

But he was right. Life could separate us at any moment, and Fang and I . . . we were like fire and ice—total opposites that can't survive without the other, not happily anyways. Nothing had ever seemed more right than being with him in all of my .

That's what compelled me to pull away from him with tears in my eyes and a bright smile on my lips to say, "Yes."

He smiled happily at me. "I can get you another ring."

"I still have the first one," I admitted sheepishly.

He groaned. "No, Trevor. I couldn't afford the ring you deserve back then. I still can't, not really, but can I please get you a better one?"

I frowned. "No, Fang. The one I have is perfect. I love it. Can we just go?"

He half-heartedly smiled. "I'm sorry I left you waiting at the alter."

I shook my head quickly. "Don't be. You had to go. The country needed you. Just don't leave me this time."

He pulled me abruptly over towards him, and when he did, his arms slid around my waist in a tight, gripping manner. "I will _never _leave you again."

And I knew he meant it.

Turns out we both kept the rings, so instead of buying new ones, we used the old ones for now, agreeing to get new ones later. Once we had the rings, we headed to the courthouse, verified our papers, made it all legal, and after ninety-seven years, we finally got married.

I could tell you the details of the event, but really? We signed papers, said I do, put rings on one another, kissed, signed some more stuff, and left. Whoo. Not very exciting if you weren't us.

It was everything I wanted, though, and Fang seemed excited about it too.

I knew Momma would be happy, but Daddy was gonna be _furious _when they found out.

I was clutching his arm tightly as we exited the courthouse, into the cool December night. "We should visit my parents, particularly my father. He could, and would, help us kill Jeb."

Fang's eyes widened in horror. "Y-You're d-dad? How is he—?"

"He got the last little bit," I interrupted. "You know how Momma got it, but he got the last bit and bonded with her. He's really changed over the years."

He frowned. "I wondered what happened to that. I always thought about how stupid it was to just leave it laying there on the ground. Now I guess I know."

I nodded. "He's an arms dealer nowadays."

"Wonderful," he muttered under his breath, scowling bitterly at the concrete porch underneath us. "More weapons to shoot me with."

"He won't shoot you," I assured him. "Well . . . he might, but I'll just tell him that I'll die too, so he'll unhappily leave you alive."

"That's reassuring," he sarcastically commented. "Wait. How do you know you'll die if I die?"

I shrugged. "Just a guess. I don't really know, though. Just to be safe, let's not try it, okay?"

"Deal," he said quickly, smirking. "Back to the plan. So, are we gonna get a few guns, track Jeb down, and kill him?"

"It's not gonna be that simple," I argued cautiously, pursing my lips together. Nervously, I began fidgeting my feet a little. "Jeb's not just some sick scientist. He's always been a dealer, and he used to work with my dad until he killed eight of my dad's men and stole three million dollars from him. My dad has hired _numerous_ assassins, trained killers, and gunmen to kill Jeb, but he always sends their heads back to my dad on platters."

"We have something those men didn't have, though," he reminded me. "He killed Max. Brutally."

"He doesn't plan to stop with Max," I said softly. It made me shiver in fear and disgust a little, even beyond what the cold wind caused. "There's a list. At the top, after me, he has some girl named Ella Martinez, some girl named Maya, and then Angel. He's a racist bastard, so Nudge isn't on there."

"So, basically, we have to stop him asap?"

I nodded. "And we have to locate Ella Martinez _now_. I don't even know where to start. She's—"

"Max's sister," he interrupted quickly, eyes wide in horror. "She lives in Arizona. Iggy won't mind heading there. It's his girlfriend. I know Maya, and I know how to contact her." He grimaced. "That's a story for a later date."

"Should we get ready and head out now to get Ella?" I asked curiously, biting my lip. The moon was out, and the cool winter breeze was just getting started, but we didn't have much time to waste. "He may be on his way as we speak. We all need to go, in case he's not going after her yet and looking for us."

For a minute, he didn't say anything. Instead, he stared off down the road and into the streets around us, not really paying any mind to the changes in the scenery—such as cars, animals, or even people. After a bit, though, he took his cell phone out of his pocket and unlocked it—a Droid 3. "We can finish this later . . . the intense part of the evening."

"Tomorrow night," I said firmly with a nod, as if I was sealing the deal.

"No, Trev," he interjected with another frown. "Tonight. Give me a minute." He began calling whoever—if I had my guess, I guessed it was Ella. While it was ringing, he kissed me quickly, and I grinned happily up at him. Of course, he couldn't help but smile back. "Ella? Whoa, whoa." The smile faded, and he suddenly looked worried. "Slow down. She's _what_? Who—no. Never mind. I know who did this. Ella, get in the car and drive. Head towards Colorado. Tomorrow morning, Iggy and I will find you. Call me back, and . . . well, I mean, we can. Max? She's . . . he already got her, El. She's g-gone." He paused to listen to whatever she was saying, and from the sounds of it, it was loud and angry. "Look, Ella, you can yell at me and Iggy for not telling you later, okay? Rigth now—okay, fine. Drive towards Colorado, and we'll head out now! I understand you're scared, but getting everyone together isn't easy, and the weather isn't exactly cooperating with us right now. They're all asleep anyways. I _can't _just leave them behind either."

I took a deep breath. "Go, Fang. You and Iggy go on. I'll protect them. Trust me. I'll protect them with my life."

He put the phone against his shoulder with a nervous, wary countenance looking back towards me. "Who's gonna protect _you_?"

I smirked as I turned and pulled my own phone out of my pocket. Ironically enough, it was the same kind, but instead of a black titanium case like he had, I had a blue hard cover. "Me, myself, and Daddy."

Fang groaned before pulling the phone back to his ear while I began dialing the number. "El, look. I'll see what I can do, okay? I'll call you back. For now, get in the car and drive. I don't even care what direction. Just go. Don't pack except for _extreme _valuables. Only things you absolutely cannot replace. Go." He pressed the end button and put his phone back in his pocket. "Trevor, I don't know about this."

"I do," I insisted. "Trust me, Fang." Right about then, Dad answered. "Hey, Dad? It's obviously me, Trevor. I have a question for you."

He coughed quietly. "Damn allergies. What, Trevor? Do you need supplies? It better be a damn good reason."

"It is," I assured him. "Let's just say your worst enemy, the man on your hit list? Yeah. He killed one of my friends, and there's someone you need to see. It's been a while. About ninety-seven years. Yeah. Anyways, it was his friend too, and we need revenge. I was thinking I might get help? I need supplies as soon as possible. I have a few weapons around the house to protect me tonight, because I'm not sure where he's at, but I need more to get inside and kill him."

"Make it slow and painful, and I'm in," he said quickly. "Wait. Hang on, Trevor. Jeb isn't someone you wanna mess with, darlin'. He's a cold, vicious killer, and he's good. Too good. I would go after him myself, but I'm not sure just how invincible I am. Promise me you'll back out if you realize you're in over your head."

I scowled. "Okay, fine." But I knew I would never realize that. "Can you send me the first round? The first thing we'll need to do is sneak in a couple of people for recon. That's all I need for day one is two people recon gear."

"I'll have that to you by tomorrow morning, if you live in Arizona," he assured me. "Send me the address. You _have _moved since Jeb caught onto ya, right?"

"Just did," I said honestly. "Actually, I don't live far from you. I live in Colorado, at the base of the mountain. I'll send you the address when we stop talking. Can you still have it in by tomorrow?"

"I can," he said lightly. "I'll throw in a map of all his old houses and bases. There's only a few, but he's got one at Maine. Now, I don't think, if you've seen him recently, that he'll have time to be there already, but he could be on his way."

"I don't know," I said honestly. "But that would be great. I'll talk to ya later, though, Dad. And for the heavier stuff that requires more power and more stuff, I'll stop by."

"That's great!" he exclaimed happily, and I couldn't help but smile a little. "Your mom . . . she's been _dying _to see ya, and I miss you too, kid. We'll be waiting, but call me and let me know, okay?"

"Will do," I promised. "Talk to you later, Dad."

"Okay. Bye."

I slid my phone back into my back pocket and looked over at Fang. "Are you good with technology?"

He shook his head. "I'm not the technology person. That's Nudge. I can handle it, and I'm pretty advanced compared to normal people, but I think sending in you and Nudge would be the best idea."

I nodded. "Okay. Well, go on and get Ella. I recommend taking Iggy with you—probably Gazzy too. Nudge and I can stay up and hold the fort down back at home. You guys go get Ella and bring her back. When Angel wakes up, she won't even know you were gone."

"Right," he sighed. "I'm worried, Trev, and I'm gonna worry the entire time."

I smirked a little and stepped closer to him, playing with the edges of his shirt a little. "Well, if you're worried, you'll come home faster."

"That I will do," he agreed, and his arms wrapped around my waist again as he pulled me against his body as tightly as he could. "But I won't be hurrying home just because of worry. There's something else I need to do."

"Me?" I guessed, and he laughed.

"Exactly," he murmured before swooping down for the most passionate, longing kiss I remember receiving from Fang.


	6. 05: I will defend you

_Sorry! It's been a while, I know. I'll try and do better! Here's the next chapter. . . in a moment. First, I must say, sorry about Fang's OOC-ness he's had in the previous chapters. He'll be a little OOC. That's just how it is, but I'll try and keep him as in character as possible._

_Oh. The prequel? I'm about to put that up as soon as I put this one up. :) The song for this chapter, listed below . . . it's quite amazing. Just saying. _

__**05. Bring the Ruckus: Manafest**

Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy finished putting on plenty of jackets and hoodies to help them with the rain. Their wings even had protection over them so they didn't get too cold. They looked really funny, and Nudge and I were unable to do anything but laugh.

Fang was watching me nervously as he stepped towards me. "I'm not so sure about this, Trevor."

"Fang, if Max trusted her in such a short time, you should be able to also," Iggy reminded him. "This is not just my desire to protect Ella speaking. I believe we can trust her. There's no reason to worry. Besides. I doubt Jeb even knows where we are."

Fang rolled his eyes. "I know I can trust her, Ig. I'm worried about leaving these two to watch Angel."

Nudge glared at him. "Is that a sexist joke? Fang, just because we're two _girls _doesn't mean we're not perfectly capable of protecting Angel! If anything even happens, she'll be safe!"

With a smirk, I walked quickly over to the "coat closet" no one had even bothered to open yet. When I did, they saw the massive safe along the back wall, and they watched with curious eyes as I opened it up and pulled out two CM901 assault rifles for Nudge and I. Fang knew and understood where they came from, but Iggy and Nudge had no idea.

I tossed one to Nudge. "I'll teach you how to use it once they leave. We'll have to put on the silencer so it doesn't wake up Angel." I glanced back to Fang. "Go on. Ella doesn't have long. She needs you to help her. We'll be fine. Promise."

There was more to this reluctance to leave than anyone understood. At first, I didn't quite understand it. Fang didn't want to lose me after we _finally _got married. He had me, and he was worried he would lose me just as quickly.

On top of all of that, besides genuine concern for my safety, he wanted to stay here with me. He wanted to make love to me and give me the proper honeymoon. I could see it, and I could also see the guilt he felt inside because of this.

I looked over to Nudge. "Go make sure Angel's still asleep. If it works out right like we're thinking, she won't even have to know."

Iggy nodded. "Good idea. Gaz, Fang, come on!"

Nudge did what I asked, and Gazzy followed Iggy out the front door. It left Fang and I alone in the living room long enough for him to pull me into a tight, desperate hug. We both knew, deep down, that it wasn't gonna be our last embrace like this, but why risk it?

He kissed me longingly with a deep pain burning in his eyes as he pulled away. "Be careful."

"You too," I murmured. "I honestly think you're in the most danger. Seriously, Fang. We'll be fine. Hurry back. I'll be here waiting for you."

That got a tiny but genuine smile to tug at the corners of his lips, and his eyes began to light up. "Naked?"

"In your bed," I teased, and he all but ran out the door. He did, but he kept his head poked in so he could talk to me. Since the door was open and they had supersonic hearing, I mouthed, "I love you."

"You too," he said quietly. "Protect them, Trev. Watch yourself too."

"Fang, the faster you leave, the faster you get back," Nudge reminded him as she made her way back into the room. "Go!"

Iggy literally drug him away from the door then, and I knew it must've been hard. It was probably hard on all of them to leave like that, hard on them to be left like that, but it was necessary to protect Max's family. Their family.

Nudge sighed deeply as she shuffled her way over to the TV. "I need something to get my mind off the worry. Look, Fang . . . he's not overreacting. He's just scared to lose anyone else, and for whatever reason, he's just as scared to lose you. Have you two met before?"

I wasn't sure if there was a time we _could've _met, but I had to try. There wasn't a way to deny we had had a previous encounter. Really, it was so obvious, because people don't just click like we have and do. I click with the other Flock members, but it's not the same. Fang and I have a connection much deeper.

Deeper than they would know.

I nodded. "Yeah. It was a few years ago, though."

"Right," she murmured. "You must be one of the people he met when he left the second time."

_Score!_ "I, uh, yeah," I replied quickly. "We helped some people together, did a few jobs here and there, but he left to come back to you guys before anything really clicked."

"Well, it's certainly clicked now," she informed me, although I knew that already. "Fang thinks I don't know, and maybe I'm the only one who does, but I know he's not as resolute as he tries to appear. He's just as fragile as we are. The difference is he's got you to breakdown onto in private, whereas we only have him."

"You can come to me if you want," I offered. "I mean, to say I'm not upset about this and the loss of my Colony would be a lie, plain and simple, but I'm here if you need someone."

She gave me a tiny smile as tears began to gather on the rims of her eyes. "You know, you're a lot like Max. I think that's why he's always been so fond of you. I don't mean that you're an exact replica and no different. Maybe he likes your differences better than stuff Max had. But you're a lot like her, and I think that's why you connected so easily."

_That would be backwards, dear._

She couldn't hear me, and I didn't want her to. I just wanted to make it right _somewhere_.

It didn't surprise me when she broke down again after a few moments of silence passed from her statement, and of course, I was there to pull her into a hug and give her someone to cry on. I was more than willing, for any of them.

A sense of comfort fell over me as Nudge continued drenching my shirt. Something about this moment really settled things in, especially when Max sat on the other side of Nudge and began looking painfully down at her.

"I really hurt them."

I shook my head and mouthed, "Not your fault."

"It is," she disagreed. "I should've been stronger. I should've held on, but I didn't. I didn't even try to, because I didn't want to suffer anymore."

"We'll talk later," I urged silently, and she nodded. Instead of leaving, she began rubbing Nudge's arm gently.

Nudge couldn't feel it, not technically, but really, she felt it. She felt the warmth Max's presence normally gave her, felt the comfort residing in her touch. Technically, though, she didn't feel the skin touching her. All she felt was the internal comfort, and she got the goose bumps.

That's probably why she was able to stop crying and able to fall asleep in my lap.

In just about every crevice of my house, I had some kind of gun or dagger hidden there. Even on the couch, I had a 9mm stored next to a five push spike dagger. The safety on the gun was on, so it wasn't exactly _dangerous_. Mostly it was just handy.

Okay, with people here, I should probably get them out . . . tomorrow.

Instead of turning the TV on, I sat in silence, listening to the sounds of Nudge breathing, and I was listening intently for even the slightest change of sounds from Angel's room. If it wasn't for the fact we were trying to hide it from her that they were gone, I would've camped out in there for more protection, but I didn't wanna wake her up and worry her.

The first disturbance I heard was a door shutting outside. It seemed to be heavy, like the door of an armored SUV.

I sucked in a quiet breath and quickly shook Nudge. "Shit. Come with me." Silently, I ducked down with a loaded 9mm in my hand and began rushing towards Angel's room. "Nudge, get down!"

When I kicked the door in of Angel's room, I was only halfway surprised to see Jeb standing by her bed with an unconscious Angel in his arms.

I clipped his shoulder with my 9mm. "Put her down!"

He had to put her down, because one arm wasn't strong enough to hold her up. When he did, he was growling as he jumped back out the window. His actions were so sudden, so rapid, but it wasn't really surprising.

He got away, but there were still four armored black SUVs sitting here.

I laid Angel back in her bed, barred her windows, and began storming into my coat closet. Nudge was freaking out, especially when I pulled out the PP90M1 and the sentry gun I had packed up.

It was the first thing I set up when they began kicking in the heavy steel door. I knew it wouldn't be long, but it was long enough for me to get set up. It was long enough for Nudge to run back into Angel's room with a dagger and 9mm for protection, in case I failed, and I was able to get the CM901 in one hand, the PP90M1 in the other, and a grenade in my mouth.

I'm able to pull the pin with my tongue and chunk it a good twenty feet from my mouth. It took lots of practice, but it comes in handy.

When they got the door down, I heard Nudge cry out from the other room. It only confirmed what I already knew.

I had to protect these girls. I promised to protect them with my life, and that's exactly what I planned to do.

No matter what it takes.


	7. 06 I'm not sure how I like this surprise

_I'm sorry! I know it's been a while. I'll try to update as much as possible, but with exams and my book, Idk. I will do my absolute best, though. Swear. :)_

_I'm still gonna try and keep the OOC limited. Nothing TOO overly sappy and not Fang-like. But, the facts are, he's NOT the same person he was with Max and everyone else. He's different._

06. What's Left of Me: Nick Lachey

***Fang***

Something had gone wrong. From a mile away, I knew that. I had sensed it last night, but as we got closer, my stomach began churning. Ella was asleep in Iggy's arms, but he could sense my uneasiness anyways, even if he was otherwise captivated by her.

Gazzy knew straight up something was up by the way I was back to my old self—the guy I was after Abigail and before Trevor—so suddenly.

"You okay?" Gazzy asked cautiously.

I shook my head. "Something's wrong."

That was all those two needed to begin, even in our exhausted state, flying in hyper speed, speeds that we only ever flew in during a crisis. We couldn't even make ourselves do it last night, but we knew the risks. We knew how dangerous leaving last night was, and we knew the dire possibilities.

The first thing I noticed when we got there was the burning SUVs outside and the dead bodies laying on the porch. Some of the guys—Erasers, it looked like—had had their brains blown out, whereas others had been shot repeatedly in the chest. There was blood staining the wood porch thoroughly, probably dripping down below to the grass. The door had been roughly beaten in, even though it was supposed to be almost impossible to beat in.

Then, there was a tiny little fire dying out on one of the guy's hands. What on earth had happened? Why was there so much destruction?

The glass was shattered out of the windows surrounding the door, and there were lots of holes in the walls and on the porch. I had no idea what had gone on, but it looked like a war had been fought here. I could see some guns the dead guys had been carrying, but what on earth had Trevor fought with?

Ella looked beyond surprised. What a sight to wake up to, right?

"First of all, where are we?" she asked quickly. "Secondly, what the hell happened? It looks like a bloody battle was fought here!"

"Apparently one was," Iggy said nervously, and Gazzy began crying. It wasn't the sobbing, breaking down kind of crying. There was just water spilling down his dirt covered cheeks, smearing it even further.

This was just _dandy_.

_I'm so sorry, Max! I am so stupid! I mean, really!_

When we stepped through the door, slowly because we were scared of what we might find, I was beyond shocked to see Trevor closing up her closet with a frown. She must've known we were there, but she didn't turn to look at me.

"I warned them."

I couldn't express all of my relief right now. It would have to wait until later, but never before in my _life _was I so glad to see someone. Through the night and the flight, I had been worrying and panicking non-stop. Shamelessly, I admit that most of the time I was only worried about Trevor. When I thought about it, I worried for Angel and Nudge, but I didn't think about that much, because I was too damn worried about Trevor.

Now that I had her back, I couldn't lose her.

With a smile, I walked over to her and punched her arm. "Thanks. You clearly fulfilled your promise."

She was a little surprised by the greeting, because even around the Flock, I hugged her. But she sensed something different about Ella, and maybe Max told her, because she just nodded and smirked. "I told ya. I was gonna defend them with everything I had."

Angel padded into the room, rubbing her sleepy eyes drearily. "I had the strangest dream last night, guys. It was so . . . loud, and for a minute, Jeb was there. There was a lot of shooting and fighting, and in the end, Jeb was shot in the shoulder."

Trevor looked away from Angel. "Um, yeah. Dream."

Angel glared a little over at her before her gaze moved over to Ella. "Whoa. Ella? When did you get here?"

Ella was gawking over at Fang, absolutely dumbstruck. "You mean she doesn't know?"

Fang grimaced. "She was asleep. I told you that. I didn't want to worry her. Look, El. Now is really not the time. I'm exhausted. I need sleep. Iggy and Gazzy need sleep. Yell at me later, okay? Angel, I promise I'll explain everything when I wake up."

Nudge yawned from the couch. "It's been forever since we've pulled the all nighters. I almost forgot what it's like to be put on watch."

Trevor smiled warmly over at her. "You should probably get some sleep too, Nudge. You had an, erm, interesting time last night."

"Not as interesting as you did," Nudge pouted. "I fell asleep before you could teach me how to help you."

"After your sleep," she promised. "Learning how to use that stuff doesn't need to be done when you're half-asleep."

That was all Nudge needed to dash out of the room and upstairs, into her purple room. We all heard the door slam, and Trevor laughed a little under her breath.

She glanced over to Ella and gave her a friendly smile. "Hi. I'm Trevor."

And everything seemed to make sense to Ella right about then. Ella couldn't see just a girl who was helping us with Jeb. She saw a girl that I was in love with, a girl I was spending the rest of my time on earth with.

She saw _everything_, but she saw more than actually existed too. I could tell by the way she began fuming and shaking.

Iggy could sense her anger. "El, we trust Trevor. Max trusts Trevor."

"Fang too!" Nudge called downstairs, and everyone jumped a little. It got my attention, because why was that such important information? If Max trusted someone, I was most likely gonna do the same. My trust wasn't really shocking.

I gave Trevor a questioning look, and she just shot me a look. I knew then it was best to either not say anything or just go with it. Together, we could hide our secret, at least until it was the right time to tell it.

And now was not that time. Maybe after we kill Jeb and everyone starts moving on with their lives, we might tell them, but not a day sooner.

At any rate, Iggy's reassurance and Nudge's random outbursts didn't calm Ella down at _all_. She was still shaking bitterly, as if she might erupt at any moment.

"Ella, breathe," I said firmly, glaring a little. "Max told me to trust her, to bring her in."

"Bring her in," Ella snorted. "You're doing a little more than—"

"I'm gonna go look and see what we have to make for food after we nap," Iggy interrupted quickly, lips set as he looked in the direction of Ella's voice. "El, do you mind helping?"

She took the opportunity to get away from Trevor—as far away as she could—quickly, and Angel was almost as quick to follow. Gazzy, even after the mention of food, was passed out in his room.

That left Trevor and I to ourselves. While I had a moment, I kissed her eagerly and wrapped her in a warm, loving embrace. It wasn't able to be as long and intense as I wanted, but it was better than nothing.

It was better than the past ninety-four years I've spent without her, unable to even _see _her. We didn't have cameras when we were growing up. At least I didn't.

Trevor was the first to pull away, but she didn't step out of my embrace. "We met a couple of years ago, apparently whenever you left the Flock. I don't really know. Nudge said you left a second time, and she assumes that's when we met."

"Okay," I nodded. "Makes sense. Anytime some memories are mentioned, just in case, go with it. I'll do the same vice versa."

She smiled warily up at me. "Sounds like a plan to me."

With a deep sigh, I leaned over and pressed my forehead against hers. Neither of us said anything for a bit. We just stood there with our eyes closed and our arms wrapped around each other.

I was breathing shakily as I finally decided to break the silence with a painful thought. "Never should've given up."

She understood, because she placed a hand on my cheek and took a deep, sad breath. "I did too, not because I didn't care to find you. I just knew we would meet again one day if we were really meant to be. Now look at us."

My eyes didn't open, but I did smile a little. "Mrs. Nicholas Mosley, we're finally married. Longest engagement ever, I would say."

"Agreed," she laughed. "You should get some sleep."

"Only if you come with me," I breathed, and the instant the word got out, I almost cringed at how sappy and unlike me I sounded. For whatever reason, I didn't mind talking to Trevor like this—if it made her happy.

"You need to sleep," she insisted. "I promise we'll be able to—"

"Come with me," I repeated gently. "First sleep, then sex. Two exhausted people can't really have good sex, can they?"

I could feel her fingers lacing with mine, so my eyes opened, and I saw her smiling brilliantly up at me. There was a happy glow in her eyes, and she was looking at me like I was the most important thing in the world.

I felt like no one could value me higher than she could, and when she began pulling me away, I let her lead me wherever she wanted me to go.


	8. 07: Let's agree to love

_Warning. There's more lemon-ish stuff in this chapter. I'll put a warning before them, if you REALLY don't wanna read. But, well, I did kinda tell you they would be here. It's nothing too bad yet. That comes later._

07. Into Your Arms: The Maine

***Trevor ***

I woke up with the sky black outside, which was surprising. A nap, which is what we were all really getting, wasn't supposed to last all day long. Sure enough, though, when I poked my head outside Fang's bedroom door, I didn't hear a single sound, except maybe a soft rustle in the kitchen. One person might already be up, but that could just be an open window or something.

Fang, though, was still out cold, snoring away. I knew I had to get out now, because if someone woke up and found me in there, they would know something was up. If not, they would have to know.

I tiptoed out of his room and into mine, where I put on more of my clothes—a sweatshirt and pair of fuzzy pajama pants—and headed out towards the kitchen to start supper. Fang had told them last night we were talking about something urgent as soon as they got back and slept a little, so I decided to make the talk easier by having food around.

Ella was surprisingly in here, eating some Cheese Itz with tears rolling silently down her cheeks. She noticed my presence the instant I was there, even though I was silent in my movements, and she shifted uncomfortably.

She sniffled a little. "Why are you up?"

I gave her a small smile. "I don't sleep a whole lot, especially come nightfall. What about you?"

She didn't even _try _to pretend she liked me, because she was glaring bitterly at me, like everything going wrong in the world was somehow my fault. "Why do you _think _I can't sleep?"

I knew the answer, and I also knew why she didn't like me. Max was sitting beside her defending her, and I struggled to shut up and not say anything back to Max. Max knew what was going on with her sister, and I respected that.

"We're gonna find your mom," I vowed. "I swear."

"And why in God's name should I believe you?" she snapped harshly, voice loud and piercing. "You know, ever since you came into the picture, everything's gone wrong. What's gonna happen next? You gonna take Iggy away from me too? How do I know you weren't a part of this? It seems all too convenient to me."

Max grimaced. "Oh dear. I taught her that. Tell her . . .tell her we were friends. Give her the note! Right! It explains everything!"

I was slow to move, but I did what Max told me. She knew them better than I did, so I wasn't gonna argue.

Ella seemed doubtful, but she read the note. Max knew they would suspect I actually wrote the notes, so she put some kind of code word that they shared with her and only her so that there would be no doubt. She knew they wouldn't take it farther than that. The code words would be enough.

She looked up at me the instant she was done. "Max tells me to trust you."

I tried to get past her edgy tone. "You can trust me."

She didn't really listen to what I was saying. "Fang trusts you too, a little too much if you ask me. I don't, though. Not fully."

"And why is that?" I asked tightly, folding my arms over my chest for a moment before I moved towards the fridge and started looking for something to make for food.

"You're hiding something from us, from everyone," she said simply. Right about that time, I found some ground beef and pulled it out to start browning it. "Everyone except Fang, who seems to know exactly what's going on with you. Quite frankly, I'm not an idiot. I know damn well what you and Fang are doing. Sleeping around with someone who just lost the love of his life? Wow. I get he needs help, but why do you find it necessary to use him like that, use him for your own personal satisfaction? That's low, and I don't care how sexy Fang may be. It's pathetic, and you're just a street whore!"

"Before you start pointing fingers and calling names, you should get your facts straight. "I snapped right back at her, slamming the pan and the spoon down on the counter so I could turn to face her. "I'm not just some street whore he picked up along the way. I'm here for one purpose and for one purpose only."

"To replace Max?" she cut off, before I could state my purpose. "I know exactly what you're trying to do."

I was done being nice. The way she was talking and accusing and acting like she knew everything . . . it wasn't okay with me, and even if Fang did care about her, I wasn't gonna put up with that.

"You know nothing like you think you do," I said darkly, eyes narrowing. To at least _try _and restrain myself, I turned and began browning the meat. "Step down from your pedestal and stop trying to control everything, including Fang. He's twenty years old, and you're, what, eighteen?"

She was glaring furiously at me. "About to be nineteen. What does that matter?"

"He's stepping up to take charge, and he's capable of taking care of himself and his own business," I said icily. "I could _never _do all the incredible stuff Max did, and I'm not her replacement, nor do I want to even _try _and replace her."

Her eyebrows rose. "Oh really? So you mean to tell me that you _don't _plan to be with Fang? To tell me that you didn't just come out of his room?"

"I'm not replacing Max, and I'm not a street whore," I repeated firmly, allowing my grip on the spoon to tighten so I didn't snap and punch her. "You need to learn the facts about me and Fang before you say _anything_."

"So you admit the two of you have a thing going, already?" she asked angrily.

"Ella, shut up, _please_," Fang groaned from behind me, which surprised Ella. I could sense his presence and hear the whisper of his footsteps, so I knew he was there. "They don't need to know about this yet. We _will _tell them, but right now, they don't need reasons to hate Trevor. Like it or not, she's here. You can't change that. She's helping us get vengeance for Max, and more than that, she's gonna help us move on. It may not matter to you that I need someone to fall onto so the Flock can fall onto me, but I do. That's Trevor."

Ella still didn't look happy. "I don't think I've ever heard you talk that much in two hours, much less two minutes. Where's _Fang_ at? Look, I'm glad you can go on pretending nothing has happened, but I can't. My mom and sister are gone because of that sick bastard!"

"He would've gotten you too if Trevor didn't know his targets!" Fang insisted. "Don't you get it? You want to avenge Max and find your mom? Trevor can help. She _is _helping. Right now, as we speak, she has an informant who knows all the locations of his hideouts and anything we need to get him. We have him, Ella, and we have a plan. Just trust us, and you can get revenge. I swear."

"You don't find it a little odd how she _knows _his list?" she asked, tone accusing. "Seems fishy to me."

"I'm at the top, and he had me before he got Max," I said simply, giving her a bitter scowl. "He was bragging about it, and if you're ever in his captivity—which we are desperately workin' to prevent—he'll tell you too. He's an arrogant, twisted bastard."

She stood up quickly, brushing past the two of us without a single word. I felt bad, and I wanted to go after her and explain everything, but Fang's lips caught mine in a romantic dance. Needless to say, I forgot about getting into it with Ella some more and saying a little too much.

His arms slid around my waist as he pulled away from me. "Good morning."

"It's night, actually," I informed him, and with a smile, I quickly kissed him again. "Did you sleep good?"

He nodded. "Yes. I had a pretty intense dream too. Let's just say my dream is preparing me for what I'm gonna do to you tonight."

I laughed tauntingly before standing on my tiptoes and stretching up to put my lips by his ear. "Maybe you can show me sometime—show me _exactly _what you're gonna do to me."

His eyebrows rose, as well as something else that was now poking into my stomach. "How about now? Does now sound good?"

I decided to be so cruel, because it's just so much fun. "If you had only gotten up sooner. I've already got supper s—"

"Iggy, get up and finish making supper!" Fang yelled towards the stairs before pulling me into a passionate, very eager kiss. He was gripping me tightly against him as he stumbled his way into his bedroom with me resting on his feet.

When his door closed, he picked me up in his arms and slammed me against the wall to allow me to slide my legs around his waist. It dislocated my shoulder, the force of the slamming, but his tongue slipped in-between my lips, so I really didn't protest or even pay it any attention.

His hand slid under my t-shirt, but I didn't pull away. Not yet. Slowly, calloused hands slid up my torso, reaching my large perky breast shortly afterwards. He scooped it up in his hand and deepened the kiss. The hand began to gently squeeze it, and his thumb flicked my nipple to life. His actions made me moan into his mouth as I felt myself growing wet.

It was intimacy, not lust. One married couple loving each other in the fullest extent possible.

I was surprised when he didn't move to take my shirt off, so I decided to return the pleasure favor and slip my hand down his shorts.

Fang jumped a little in surprise when I slid my index finger down his hardening shaft. On the way to bring my hand back up, I gently slid my nails across the tender skin.

He came. right then and there, with such a simple action.

His teeth ground together as he pressed his forehead against mine. I could tell he was a little embarrassed about this, so he wasn't looking at me.

"I guess that's what happens after ninety-seven years of waiting," I breathed into his ear, and I carefully pulled my hand back out. "I'll probably be the same way."

His hand slid out from under my shirt and began playing with the edges of my sweatpants. "Wanna find out?"

"I _need _this, Fang," I moaned, nodding quickly. "You were right about the unbreakable love and bond thing that we—"

While I was talking, he shoved his finger inside of me. There was serious resistance in the action, because I was so tight, and it had been so long. I practically came right then with just the relief of finally being pleasured again. Once he started pumping, the immense pleasure overloaded, and I came just as quickly as he had.

He continued kissing me and pinned my shoulders against the wall. "Just wait until we have more time."

When his hand slid up my shirt again, his other hand continued playing with the edge of my sweatpants and rubbing the sensitive skin underneath. I was twitching and squirming under his warm touch, and he was grinning wildly into the kiss.

"Would you prefer I move my fingers somewhere else?"

I shook my head. "I would _prefer _you move something that's not your finger, starts with a d and ends with an ick, somewhere else."

"That can be arranged," he said lightly. The most surprising thing he had done to this day was when he pulled me back in for a quick romantic kiss, and then, he pulled away before distancing himself two steps away from me.

I was soaked. It felt like I had peed in my pants, and Fang looked like he had peed on himself too. We both laughed a little, but he got to change, whereas I had to sneak out like this.

"I'm gonna go get a quick shower," I informed him quickly. "I needed one anyways. Now I probably smell like sex."

"Me too," he agreed. "And in order to calm down and get the urges to bang you like there's no tomorrow outta my head, you should go by yourself to Nudge's. I'll go to mine."

I pouted playfully up at him, "Shower sex sounds so good."

He scowled. "You're a really evil girl, you know that?"

I smirked at him. "I have been known to be rather wicked . . . especially in bed."

Now he looked _pissed_—really pissed—and he was glaring darkly. "Known by _who_? I know I told you that, but—"

I rolled my eyes. "Exactly. Now, breathe, baby. You wanna know why I was still alive and not Max?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Sure. Why?"

"My brain knew it wasn't you trying to screw me, so it closed the muscle down there," I answered quietly. "It really exists, the muscle that doesn't allow entry. My brain triggered it when it realized what was going on. Connecting ourselves to each other really did work."

There were tears in Fang's eyes as he pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm glad, Trevor—not that Max died, because that's . . . well, you know. Right now, I need to get out of here and not break down, so I'm gonna focus on the positive. Honestly, I'm glad no one else is allowed entry. I'm glad it worked. I'm glad you're mine." He paused, only briefly, before saying, "Now, shower. Go. We have to hurry before they figure it out, and if they walk in here . . . well, it smells like sex."

"It's a sultry smell," I noted.

He nodded. "Yeah, and an obvious. Go."


End file.
